addictedtostationeryhttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com
Just an ordinary girl with a love of all things stationery!Fri, 09 Mar 2018 23:23:16 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngaddictedtostationeryhttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com
In which I achieve planner peacehttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/in-which-i-achieve-planner-peace/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/in-which-i-achieve-planner-peace/#commentsFri, 19 Sep 2014 17:23:32 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=499Hi everyone! Sorry for my absence! Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of my blogging and stationery obsession.

Anyway…

I have FOUND planner peace!!

I never thought it could be done. Those of you who have followed me for a while will know that I have swapped and changed planners more times than I’ve changed my underwear. I’ve just not been able to find the perfect solution between planning space, decoration space, portability, archivability and customisation-ability. I need all of these things in my planner in order to be fully at peace with it. I tried all sorts of systems, all sorts of different bindings and sizes and brands…

Enter the Clipbook.

I bought this as a last-ditch attempt to find planner peace, after not getting along with my old one and gifting it to my mum (who doesn’t use it, sadly). This little beaut rapidly transformed my life:

She quickly became my beloved companion and came with me everywhere I went. She was perfect! Exactly what I’d been looking for!

I used her for a long while, devising a cheap archiving system (link to follow) to file my used pages. It was absolutely perfect.

However, I remembered my previous love-affair with my old Springboard (which I’ve since sold!) and ordered myself an A5 Saffiano:

She is truly gorgeous, and so soft to the touch. I’ve set her up, and she’s wonderful!

I can’t stop taking photos of her loveliness!

And here she is with her big sister, the Clipbook (strange how I see the Saffiano as the “little” sister of the two!):

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/my-filofax-wishlist/feed/0snowyowl9120140723-070321-25401816.jpgPilot Frixion “Colors” testhttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/pilot-frixion-colors-test/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/pilot-frixion-colors-test/#commentsSun, 20 Jul 2014 07:57:36 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=486I’d been eyeing up these beauties on Amazon for a while:

They were reduced to £9.99 a couple of weeks ago, so I ordered them and they arrived this week.

Now, the first thing that bothered me when they arrived was that they weren’t in rainbow order. I soon sorted that!

The pens are quite nice to write with. Some of the nibs seem to write thinner than others, and black does seem quite thick.

Now for the important part: erasing them! I was quite disappointed by this to be honest. They do erase, but they left a black smudge on my paper. Maybe that wouldn’t bother some people, but it annoys me immensely!

There wasn’t a lot of show-through with the pens, which was good. I’m using Staples Arc paper to test it though, which is 90gsm, so I also tested it on Filofax paper and the show-through was more prominent.

The pens are not too bad I suppose. I’ll certainly use them to decorate my planner with, but I probably won’t use the erasable side of them – they don’t seem that erasable! The colours are nice, but to be honest if you won’t be erasing them, you may as well buy some nicer, non-erasable marker pens.

Until next time! x

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/pilot-frixion-colors-test/feed/1snowyowl9120140720-084313-31393807.jpg20140720-084553-31553554.jpg20140720-084555-31555103.jpg20140720-085011-31811960.jpg20140720-085215-31935345.jpg20140720-085213-31933517.jpg20140720-085417-32057754.jpg20140720-085419-32059966.jpgBack in the A5 Arc… With a twist!https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/back-in-the-a5-arc-with-a-twist/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/back-in-the-a5-arc-with-a-twist/#commentsSat, 19 Jul 2014 16:52:12 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=476Remember my last post in which I talked about having chosen the Filofax Personal Swift as my planner?

Yeah, that didn’t last long.

I moved in, and after a few hours I already began to miss the space A5 offers. But I knew I didn’t want to carry an A5 Filofax! So I had a good old think, and my mind drew me back to my old buddy, the A5 Arc:

I remember how much I loved him – he was the perfect compromise between paper space and bulk. You won’t find a better customisation-ability-to-paper-space ratio anywhere!

Recently, I bought this beautiful planner from Paperchase: (screen grabbed a picture of it from the website)

I loved the design, but it just wasn’t customisable. It just wouldn’t work for me! I’d have to stick to the Arc. So I started looking for a closing mechanism for my Arc, as that was what had caused me to fall out of love with my Arc in the first place. But then I had a brainwave…

What if I made the A5 planner customisable by turning it into an Arc?

I could unloop it from the spiral binding, punch each page, and re-insert them onto discs! Plus the planner had an elastic closure! It was perfect!

So that’s exactly what I did.

I started off by unlooping the spiral binding. I didn’t take a photo of this stage, but it’s as simple as it sounds – pull the binding open slightly, and unhook each page from the binding.

I then punched the back cover:

I briefly had the thought to keep the existing poly cover and just use the back for the closure – because the front of the Paperchase planner has “2014-2015” written on it. But it soon became apparent that that just wouldn’t look right:

So I punched the 2014-2015 cover. It’s not that much of a big deal, because I can always replace the covers or sticker over the date when it becomes outdated.

Next, I punched the pages inside. The pages were ever so slightly larger than A5, so I used an existing A5 Arc page as a guide. I used my craft knife and a ruler (well, something my boyfriend had lying around from work which you measure pupil distance in glasses with) to cut the pages:

So far so good! The pages looked quite good having been transferred:

The planner came with frosted dividers, which I rather liked, so I punched those too:

I put all the pages and dividers in the planner, on the rings, and it was complete! My beautiful owl planner, but customisable! Isn’t she a beauty?

I’m so happy with the result! When I’m all set up I’ll do a tour post, but until then, thanks for reading!

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/back-in-the-a5-arc-with-a-twist/feed/2snowyowl9120140719-170846-61726342.jpg20140719-171152-61912319.jpg20140719-171830-62310146.jpg20140719-172033-62433759.jpg20140719-172035-62435375.jpg20140719-172251-62571190.jpg20140719-172546-62746114.jpg20140719-172547-62747666.jpg20140719-172854-62934985.jpg20140719-172856-62936646.jpg20140719-173314-63194587.jpg20140719-173313-63193019.jpg20140719-173608-63368786.jpg20140719-173744-63464395.jpg20140719-173742-63462867.jpg20140719-174019-63619869.jpg20140719-174111-63671429.jpgA5 vs Personal, part 2: I went for the personal!https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/a5-vs-personal-part-2-i-went-for-the-personal/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/a5-vs-personal-part-2-i-went-for-the-personal/#commentsTue, 15 Jul 2014 20:23:56 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=445So as part of my “planner peace” process, I wrote a list of everything I want from a planner:

(Excuse my messy handwriting!)

I think it’s a good idea, if you’re experiencing planner fail (or planner meltdown, as I experienced) to take a step back and make a list like this. Forget everything about your current planners, and what you do and don’t have in stock, and just list exactly what it is you need from a planner. Once you’ve done this your choice should be clear.

So I did this, and made my decision. I moved back into my Personal Swift.

It was suggested to me on my last post that I should try and stick with A5 – and try I did. I tried so hard to make it work, but I didn’t last more than 20 minutes before getting frustrated by the sheer extra bulk that carrying an A5 entails. However, I thought I needed the paper space. So I went to Paperchase, bought a WO2P bound A5 diary, and moved in…

…I used it for a grand total of 10 minutes before enough was enough. I missed my Swift too much. So back into the Swift I went.

I’ve since realised I need lined pages, so I’ve ordered some of those, but for the most part I am incredibly happy with my decision! I’m thinking of trying my hand at a Filofax video of my setup, so that’ll be coming soon!

For the moment, consider planner peace achieved!

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/a5-vs-personal-part-2-i-went-for-the-personal/feed/2snowyowl9120140715-211710-76630413.jpgThat old A5 vs Personal thing rears its ugly head…https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/that-old-a5-vs-personal-thing-rears-its-ugly-head/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/that-old-a5-vs-personal-thing-rears-its-ugly-head/#commentsSat, 12 Jul 2014 08:25:53 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=442So I thought I had found planner peace. I really did. Over the last few months I’ve tried everything – 3 different sizes of ring-bound Filofax, an A5 Flex, a spiral-bound diary, and even an A5 Arc – but nothing seemed to be good enough. I’ve swapped and changed planner so much that 2 weeks of my life have actually disappeared into the ether. I had so many different planner options it gave me a headache just thinking about it.

So I stopped. I moved out of every planner I owned and packed them away. I had a good, long think about what I seriously need from a planner. What’s always worked for me in the past?

The solution I came up with was this: move into my Personal Swift and make it work. So I did.

Since I moved in, it has worked wonderfully. It’s beautiful, portable, stuffable and does exactly what I want from a planner.

But then I threw a spanner in the works. I was browsing Philofaxy’s Adspot when I spied a red A5 Domino. I’d been hankering after another A5 for a while, since my previous one had developed problems with the card slots, and it was cheaply priced. I emailed the seller, and after a few emails and a couple of minutes on PayPal, the Domino was mine.

She arrived in the post and I fell in love immediately.

Normally I hate the colour red, but she was wonderful. Smart, affordable, with that elastic closure that I’ve always been a fan of – wonderful!

I started using the two planners together, to see which one I preferred. I posted on some Facebook planner groups, and got the general response that A5 was better. I cut up one of those diaries I’d been using previously and punched it to fit the A5, and then ran the two together for a couple of weeks:

The trouble is, they both work so well for me that they’ve now disturbed my planner peace. Every time I think to myself that I will just stick to the Personal, I look at the A5 again and my resolve just comes undone.

There’s a fair difference in the space they take up, but my bags are large enough that I could carry either of them without too much of an issue. The Domino is about the same size as the Arc that I used previously (as I installed the largest rings available) and I used to carry that all the time without a problem.

So now I’m left wondering which planner I should use. I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of old spare A5 paper which I could use in the Domino, but then I own a Personal punch, and the paper could just be cut down to size anyway. A5 paper is very easy to get hold of in the UK, whereas Personal is nigh on impossible (unless you’re buying the inserts themselves). I do love the space in the A5 paper, although I have been able to plan effectively in Personal. I’ve seen a few A5s out in the wild recently which have really inspired me to use A5, but should I let that influence my decision? Personal paper feels small to write on, but the planner itself is a wonderful size to carry.

What do you think I should do?

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/that-old-a5-vs-personal-thing-rears-its-ugly-head/feed/5snowyowl9120140712-090922-32962950.jpg20140712-090921-32961078.jpg20140712-090919-32959399.jpg20140712-091339-33219063.jpg20140712-091337-33217557.jpg20140712-091704-33424634.jpg20140712-091831-33511188.jpg20140712-091829-33509668.jpg20140712-092029-33629306.jpg20140712-092032-33632601.jpg20140712-092031-33631041.jpgMy apologies for my extremely long hiatus!https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/my-apologies-for-my-extremely-long-hiatus/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/my-apologies-for-my-extremely-long-hiatus/#respondThu, 10 Jul 2014 20:47:51 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=428I must apologise profusely for having been MIA for so long without warning. I’ve been incredibly busy – I have a new job I’m starting in 2 weeks, I’ve had lots of health issues and I’m going to be changing my name – so my blog has fallen on the wayside.

Fortunately, my love of stationery has not! I’ve reached planner and stationery peace, and I’ll be sharing that with you in the near future. I may even attempt my very first Filofax video…

Watch this space!

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/my-apologies-for-my-extremely-long-hiatus/feed/0snowyowl91Photo-a-Day Challenge: Day 4 – Weatherhttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/photo-a-day-challenge-day-4-weather/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/photo-a-day-challenge-day-4-weather/#respondSun, 04 May 2014 22:24:28 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=422Well the weather hasn’t exactly been amazing here today, but it wasn’t terrible. I took a photo of it through my window, and it’s come out looking really grotty and miserable!

]]>https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/photo-a-day-challenge-day-4-weather/feed/0snowyowl9120140504-232403.jpgPhoto-a-Day Challenge: Day 3 – Favourite Pagehttps://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/photo-a-day-challenge-day-3-favourite-page/
https://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/photo-a-day-challenge-day-3-favourite-page/#respondSat, 03 May 2014 21:00:27 +0000http://addictedtostationery.wordpress.com/?p=414I’m going to cheat here to be honest, because I couldn’t decide on my favourite – so I’ve got two. It’s a toss-up between my Month on 2 Pages insert, which I honestly couldn’t live without: